AUSTIN, Texas -- It was the easy season-opening win that No. 5 Texas wanted. It wasn't the Heisman Trophy-type performance quarterback Chris Simms had in mind.

Simms threw two touchdown passes but otherwise forced his way through an erratic night as the Longhorns beat New Mexico State 41-7 Saturday night.

Texas safety Phillip Geiggar scoops up the ball in the end zone after a blocked punt.(AP)

"I wasn't thrilled with my performance. It's not always going to go the way you want," said Simms, who completed 17-of-33 passes for 182 yards with TD passes of 9 and 10 yards to Montrell Flowers.

"It was an OK performance. It will get better."

The Texas defense narrowly missed its first season-opening shutout since 1978.

Walter Taylor rushed for 113 yards for New Mexico State (0-2).

The Aggies, who rolled up more than 500 yards of offense in a loss to Louisville a week earlier, managed just 232 total yards.

Simms' starting role remains a point of contention with some Texas fans because it meant benching senior Major Applewhite, who holds or shares 40 school passing records.

Simms started the season opener last year, too, but was pulled in the first quarter when the Longhorns fell behind.

He was knocked down on several plays and nearly picked off three times in the first half. But coach Mack Brown left him in until Texas led by 27 in the fourth quarter.

Brown seemed unconcerned about his starting quarterback.

"If some would have told me last week we would record two turnovers, a blocked punt, be solid in the kicking game and not turn the ball over, I would have felt like we would have won the game. I'm really excited about all those things," Brown said.

Applewhite was greeted with a loud cheer when he took over in the final minutes. He drove the Longhorns 69 yards to the game's last touchdown, a 3-yard run by true freshman Cedric Benson.

Special teams provided the Longhorns' first TD when Tony Jeffery broke through the left side to block New Mexico State's first punt inside the 5. Phillip Geiggar beat a pack of Longhorns to fall on the ball in the end zone for a 7-0 lead.

Texas made it 14-0 later in the quarter when Ivan Williams ran it in from the 4.

Positive yardage was a struggle for the Longhorns through most of the first half, however.

Simms was knocked down and sacked on Texas' first series and completed just three of his first 10 passes against the blitzing defense that successfully disrupted the timing of early plays.

"After the way we knocked him around in the early part of the game, I thought we might have rattled him but he hung in there," said New Mexico State safety Tyrone Gifford.

The Longhorns heated up in spurts. Simms completed seven passes in an 80-yard second-quarter drive that ended with Flowers' first TD to make it 24-0.

"As an offense, I thought we were really close to some really big plays. The score before the end of the first half really settled me down," Simms said.

On the Longhorns' first possession of the third quarter, Roy Williams turned a short pass into a 35-yard gain to the New Mexico State 1. But two running plays and an aborted bootleg by Simms failed to reach the end zone. The Longhorns settled for Dusty Mangum's second field goal, a 17-yarder.

Keeon Johnson broke up the shutout with an 11-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for New Mexico State.